Electroplating apparatus.



L. POTTHOFF.

ELECTROPLATING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED IAN. 3|, l9t6.

I Patefiied Nuns, 1918,

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APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31, 1916.

Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- SEST AVAlLABLE COr UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' LOUIS POTTHOFI, OF FLUSHING, NEW YORK.

ELECTROPLATING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. i Patented NOV. 19, 1918.

Application fiea- January a1, 1916. Serial No. 75,268.

J'o [ZZZsLB/LOIN, it may cancer- 11,: 3,

, lie it known that 1, Lou s Po'rl noi-r, a

citizen of'thc United StatcSQIresiding at.

Flushing, in the county of Queensand b'tate of New 'lork, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Elcctroplating Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a full,

clear, and exact'specilication.

This invention relates t plating apparatus, and particularly toelectroplating apparatus of the type. in which a container carries thearticles to be plated in the electrolyte.

An object of the present invention is to construct the carrying means ofnon-conducting material to confine the. plating currents to useful pathsavoiding current leak-- age and the undesirable plating of parts of I lhe apparatus itself.-

.ol' current therethrough,

Another object/of the present-' ini'ention is to construct atumbler'barrel of non-conducting material to minimize the leakageliltllfl'tO these barrels have been made of wood which when soaked withthe electrolyte becomes practically a conductor affording ready passagefor current leaka e and consumin a. lar e 1 a part ot the total currentsupplied. lo avoid this loss this invention provides a tumbler barrelcomposed entirelyof non-conducting, material as glass, porcelain,celluloid or bakelite. Such a material is non-conducting, non-absorbentand impervious to action of the electrolyte and retains these proper-,ties without deterioration in use.

A further-"object of my invention is to provide cathode arms of amaterial which will not accumulate a deposit of the plating v natal.\Viththis object in vicw these arms LIG made of aluminum, as it s' foundpar- ;icularly in electroplating articles, that the leposited coat onthe aluminunt cathode will asily flake ofi'. Therefore, in the present.pparatus where the cathode arms are used agitate and move the articlesbeing;- plated,

hemselves of any deposit." p I A further object of this invention is torrange the anode terminal out-side of'the arrel and support the cathodatmin trout. a central :shaft within 1 11 mi; a way that the'efi'ectivdcurrent'iwill ass directly from the anode through theectr'olytc to the articles and thence irough thecathode terminals.

Another object of the present invention is luminum arms willautomatically clear lOf'and'thc loose and driving pulleys 26 and toconstruct a carrying basket to not only support the articles being pla'ted, but also to conduct the current to the articles by the supportingmeans and to so cover the with therbarrela,

- F ig..-6;-is'a side elevation on an enlarged scale of the cathodeterminal contact;

Fig. 7 1s a sectional view on line 7-'( of hi v n the embodiment of theinvention illus tratcd in Figs. 1 to 7, inclusive, the electrolyte iscontained in the tank 10, and tumbler barrel 11 supported in bearings 31on the sides thereof holds the articles 13 immersed in said electrolyte.The barrelis composed of twoopposite heads 14 and 15 connected by crossbars 16 and sections ofthin stock 17 bent into arcuate form to fit theheads and provided all over with holes 18 as indicatcci in one corner ofFig. 2. Theseholes ten I r the stock porous allowing free flow of t eelectrolyte therethrough. Around the outer edge of each head is fasteneda ring '19 overhung by the rejecting edges of sections l7 which are he(1 in place on the heads and ring by an outer rim 20. The barrel partsare composed entirelyof non-conduct- 1ng material which is unaffected bythe electrolyte. The head let is solidthroughout and is provided onitsinner face'with boss -21 j'while its'fouter face is bored 'as at '22 toreceive the end of the shaft 23, fast in hollowjournal24 attached tohead 14; Journal 24jrotates in bearing 25 on the side of tank 7 aremounted on shaft23. :1

having its inner end supported in bearing 33 in boss 21 of head 14. Nearits outer end shaft 32 hasgrooves at opposite sides to 15 I isbored toreceive: one endofgthe j holloiv journal '30 runningin bearing3l.LLThrough journal 30 extends the shaft 32 fit over shaft 32 and allowsaid shaft to pass therethrough; when the shaft is completely insertedso that its inner end is properly borne by hearing 33, grooves 40- willallow bracket 35 to be lowered into position indicated in Fig 3, holdingthe shaft 32 rigidly in place. Shaft 32 carries the cathode arms 41fastened thereto by straps 42 and bolts 43. These arms may be arrangedin any convenient manner on the shaft preferably in one or more rows instaggered relation as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 when the shaft 32 is heldstationary and they extend to within a short distance from the peripheof the barrel to contact with the articles being plated and may beprovided with protective sleeves'44 at their inactive portions. Inorderto avoid the accumulation of the plated metal on the cathode armsthese arms are made of aluminum from which the deposited metal will bereadil flaked 01? by the articlesbeing plated. not only carry thecurrentfrom the "articles being plated, but also act to. stir and agitate them.The resultant constant rubbing" of the work. against aluminum cathodeskeeps themclear'vof deposited metal. The arms are individuallyadjustable on the shaft by loosening bolts 43 to accommodate'theapparatus to different tumbler speeds and varying plating conditions andall the shafts may be adjusted together by adjustment of pivot 36 inslot 45 of the link 37. Outside a of the barrel 11 and near theperiphery thereof is the curved anode terminal 46 supported by shaft 47held in brackets 48 on the sides of the tank,

In operation, tumbler barrel 11 is rotated in the direction of the arrow49 in Fig. 1

and the articles assume the position approximated by dotted line 50.They are constantly agitated by movement of the-barrel periphery and arestirred by contact with stationary cathode arms 41 and the ridgesformed, on the inside of the barrel by the cross bars and the pocket 63.Current entcring by terminal 51 attached to shaft 47 passes throughanode 46 and the electrolyte to the articles bcingplated, thence to the,

cathote arms 41 to the shaft 32 and out by terminal 52. All other pathsare insulated against the passage of current by constructing the barrelof insulating material.

In plating articles of certain shapes and sizes it is desirable to havethe cathode arms 41 rotate with the tumbler barrel so that there is norelative movement between the Insuch case access is" arms and barrel.gained to the interior of the barrel by the removal of one of theperipheral sections nmy apparatus the cathode arms barrel reversed tofill the 17; and set screw 55 (Fig. 5) threaded through bearing 33 istightened to hold the shaft 32 rigid with said bearing. Arms 41 are alsodistributed in a different manner to project in all directions towardthe barrel per phery and bracket arm 35 is removed from engagement withgrooves 40. The current is conveyed from shaft/32 by mercury in cup 57fastened by bracket 58 to the side of tank 10 and provided with wireterminal 59 and cover 61 slitted for the disk readjustment of arms 41,the tightening or loosening of set screw 55 and the raising or loweringof bracket arm a Within the barrel 1 is formed a pocket 63.-

byextending across the barrel an in clined plate at an angle to theperiphery. The sectionsl? are discontinued at the pocket which is closedby an automatically actuated direction opposite that of the arrowarticles will be caught by the pocket and will be in position to bedischarged upon the automatic opening of cover 64. This cover is pivotedto the barrel springs 66 v ivhcn the latches 67 are automatically trip ped by fingers 68. This tripping only occurs when thebarrel is rotated.in a

directiorf'opposite to that of the arrow 49 for in normal operation inthe direction of the arrow the fingers tip around their pivots whenengaged by the latches. A chute 70 is provided to receive and guide thearticles discharged from; the pocket. This chute when not in use istipped to dotted line position, Fig. 1; when articles are to be takenfrom the barrel it is tipped to full line position? and the direction ofrotation of the pocket 63 and trip the cover 64. The chute is held ineither position by counterweight 71 which swi with the chute from oneside to the other of pivot bar 72. Continued reverse movement of thebarrel automatically closes the cover by contact with spring arms 75tank 10.

From the foregoing description it will be soon that this inventionprovides an electroplating apparatus which is ellicicnt and easy tomanipulate. The non-conducting mate rial of which the barrel is composed'concover 64, the pocket and cover forming an:

at and is opened by fastened 'to tionary with the tank or rotata finesthe electrical current to-the useful circuits. The aluminum cathode armsautomatically shed any accumulations of plated metal and do not have tobe removed and reduced in size, nor do the articles adhere to them. Thetumbler can thereforebe easily and completely emptied. The readyadjustments of the cathode arms and the means provided for renderin themstafiile with the barrel accommodate the apparatus to a variety ofarticles.

It will be understood that the apparatus is capable of embodiment invarious other .forms without departingt'rom the spirit or scope of theinvention disclosed as defined in the appended claims.

Havin thus described my invention, I declare 518i whatI claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In electroplating apparatus, the combinat-ion with a horizontalsupporting shaft having cathode arms for conducting the current from thearticles being plated, of means suspending the articles to be plated incontact with said arms and comprising a rotatable tumbler barrel mountedon said shaft and having heads and periphery wholly of non conducting,non absorbent material, so that no conducting material is interposed inthe electrolyte between the shaft and the periphery of the barrel,except the cathode arms, and the current is wholly confined to a usefulpath through the articles, and an anode m the electrolyte outside thesaid barrel.

2. In an electroplating apparatus, the

extending from said sha combination with a rotatable tumbler barrel, ofcathode arms therein, and releasable means for holding said armsstationary or permitting them to rotate with the barrel according to thecharacter of the articles being plated.

3. In an electroplating apparatus, the combination with a rotatabletumber barrel, of inside cathode arms of a material 'nonadherent to theanode metal, and releasable means for holding said arms stationary orpermitting them to rotate with the barrel according to the character ofthe articles being plated.

4. In an electroplating apparatus, a receptacle for the electrolyte,barrel tumbliu means containing the articles to be pla a cathode supportwithin said tumbling means, means for holding said support stationarywith the receptacle, means for moving said support with the tumblingmeans, and means supplying current to said cathode support when eitherstationary with the I receptacle or moving with means.

5. In an electroplating apparatus, the combination with a'tunrblerbarrel carrying the articles to be plated, driving means connected toone head of said barrel, an anthe tumbling gularly adjustable shaftpassing through the other .head and having a bearing in said first namedhead, adjustable cafhode arms an member supported outside (if saidbarrel.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

LOUIS POT'IIHOFF.

an anode

